DCAU #199: Touch of Death

IN THIS ONE... Poison Ivy helps an Amazonian tribe cure a fatal disease.

CREDITS: Written by Kelly Puckett; art by Bo Hampton and Stan Woch.

REVIEW: Kelley Puckett returns for his first story since Batman Adventures wrapped, and it's a follow-up to Toxic Shock, his own tale from issue #23. The tribespeople she helped in that story have been infected with a plague that only she's immune to, so she's the only one who could possibly help. This is really her story, with Batman on the periphery, facing off against Men in Black from the Center for Disease Control, and ultimately saving the tribe and preventing an outbreak. Ivy as anti-hero has potential, and not surprisingly, the comics have, in recent years, used her in that capacity.

But it's a story that could have done with more pages, or more efficient sequencing. The third act feels rushed, in particular the bit where the tribesman is thrown out of a plane and Batman eventually follows with a parachute, only for them to turn up on the ground safe and sound later. Obviously, I can figure out what happened, but it feels like we've been robbed of a cool action sequence in exchange for a simply okay one aboard the plane. The climax comes off as disjointed instead, which if I recall correctly, was a frequent weakness of Puckett's scripts.

REREADABILITY: Medium - Nice to see Ivy in the hero role, but Batman is shorted in the process.